Can opener



Nov. 24 1925.

W. H. NORDHAUS CAN OPENER Filed May 25. 1925 UPI W Patented Nov. 24,1925.

PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAM NORDHAUS, OF RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS.

can ormmn.

Application filed May 25, 1925. Serial No. 32,577.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. Nonn- HAUS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at River Forest, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CanOpeners, of which the following is a speci- This invention relates tocan openers, havmg reference more particularly to portable can openersof the type designed to operate on cans having upstanding annular rimsor beads on one or both ends thereof, and employing a air, ofrim-grippingv wheels, one of which is toothed or knurled to effectivelybite into the inner side of the rim or bead and feed the latter throughthe cutter,

and a rotary cutter disc fast with relation to the other rim-grippingwheel. that cuts through the body of the can just below the plane of theend closure completely shearing off the head of the can; the knurled ortoothed wheel being provided with a manually operated shaft rotating thesame,

and the rim or head traveling between the gripping wheels and cutter asthe shaft is I turned.

In a prior application filed by me on the 20th day of April, 1925,Serial No. 24,314, I

have disclosed and claimed a can opener of the type referred tocharacterized by the provision of a single handle bar with feed andcutter wheels rotatably mounted on one end portion thereof; the cutterwheel being fixed and the feed wheel bodily shiftable into and out of cooperating engagement with the cutter wheel and the rim through theagency of a spring friction washer on the shaft of the feed wheeloverlying a slot in the handle bar through which said shaft travels,said washer causing a bodily movement. of the shaftv as the latter isturned through frictional engagement with the portion of the handle barbordering one side of the slot.

My present invention embodies many of the structural features of thetool forming the subject-matter of the aforesaid application, butincludes an improvement t ereon in the nature of a positive feedmechanism fon effecting the travel-bf the knurled rimgripping wheel intofull gripping engagement with the rim and the simultaneous piercing ofthe wall of the can by the cutter disc, which is not dependent uponfriction,

.and the primary'purpose and object of my present improvement -1s toprovide a vcan opener characterized by a fixed cutter wheel and agripping wheel bodily movable into and out of working engagement withthe rim and the cutter Wheel, wherein the travel of the gripping wheelarray be positively effected through a gear relation with a fixedmember'on the handle, so as to thereby insure the piercing of the canbody by the cutter as the gripping wheel is moved into full workingengagement with the rim and the cutter.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be apparentto persons skilled in the art as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in which I the rim of a can;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tool in cutting engagement with therim;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;p I

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the left hand portion of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates as an entirety a flat metalbar,- approximately one longitudinal half of which is shaped to form ahandle 10'. The other longitudinal half of the bar carries thecanengaging. parts, comprising preferably a pair of rim-gripping wheels,a rotary cutter, a manually-operated shaft for bringing the grippingwheels into engagement with the rim of the can and rotating the rimbetween the wheels during the cutting operation, and

opposite or outer side of the slot 11 the end 17 of a shaft 18..Thisshaft is formed with.

an annularshoulder 19 that overlies and spans the'slot 15' and is drawnby the threaded end 17 of the shaft into a tight bearing with the upperend of the reduced hub-16' of the feed wheel 16. At the junction of thewheel 16 and its hub 16 is an annular shoulder 20 which straddles theslot l5-below the latter, bearing on the llowef surface of the sidewalls of theslbt, and in co-operation with the shoulder 19 maintainingthe feed wheel 16 rigid against lateral yielding. A cross-bar or handle21 mounted on the upper end of the shaft 18 forms a convenient thumb andfinger hold for rotating the shaft an the feedrwheel 16.

In the periphery of the annular shoulder 19 is formed a radial notch 22,with which cooperates a tooth 23 formed on the free end of a flat metalstrip 24 that is rigidly attached to the upper-side'of the bar 10, as byrivets 25. This tooth 23 is so disposed relatively to the working andidle positions of the feed wheel 16 that, as the handle 21 is turnedclockwise, viewing Fig. 1, to shift the feed wheel from idle to workingposition, one side wall of the notch 22, through engagement with theadjacent side of the tooth 23, causes a travelvofthe shaft 18 and feedwheel-16 toward the other end of the slot 15. During this travel of thefeed wheel torim-engaging position under the thrust of the wall of theslot against the tooth23,.the sharp edge of the cutter 14 is caused topierce the wall of the can, as shown in Fig. 3; but when the feed wheelis in full working engagement with the rim.

and the cutter, as shown in Fig. 2, the notch 22 becomes whollydisengaged from the tooth 23, and the shaft and feed wheel may bereadily. turned duringthe rim-cutting operation. After the can top hasbeen severed, by turning the handle 21 in the 'reverse direction, thefeed wheel starts to travel backwardly toward the opposite end of theslot 15 under frictional grip on the severed rim until the notch 22 isre-engaged with the tooth 23, whereupon through engagement of the othersidewall of the notch with the other side of the tooth, the feed wheeland shaft are positively retracted by the reverse turning movement, andthe severed head and rim of the can readily drop from between the-feedand cutter wheels.

From the foregoing it will beapparent that my invention provides apositive drive,

in the general nature of spur gearing, for

effecting the bodily travel of the feed wheel and its shaft into and outof working position, without de endingupon the friction betweencontacting parts to effect such travel. As above stated, the mainadvantage of the above improvement is that it insures the piercing ofthe can by the cutter during the final part of the travel of the feedwheel into engagement with the rim, and without requiring any 'sidewisepush or thrust on the handle or shaft by the user to.

insure the piercing of the can by the cutter. So long asthe handle isturned in the direction indicated in Fig. 1, the feed wheel ispositively forced, through the action of the gearing referred to, tofull working position and the cutter is caused to pierce the wall of thecan. i

The slit or slot 11 in the wheel carrying member between the feed wheeland the abutment wheel and cutter is not essential to a satisfactorytool otherwise answering the above description; but it is preferablyemployed because it provides a slightly yielding elastic or resilientgrip of the feed and abutment wheels on the rim of the can whichautomatically takes care of slight variations in thickness of the rim,and insures a positive feed at all points of the latter. It also insuresa better friction drive from the outer surface of the rim to theabutment wheel 13 and cutter disc 14 than would be the case were thewheels 16 and 13 rigidly spaced during the cutting operation.

The slightl arcuate form of the slot 15, through whic the feed wheeladvances into and retreats from working position, more effectively locksthe feed wheel in working position during the cutting of the can againstpossible back-slip than is possible with a straight slot, since duringsuch back- The slot 11 and the arcuate form of the slot 13, last abovedescribed, are both disclosed in my former application above referredto, and no claim specifically thereto is made herein;

The tool of my present'invention requires only a single handle, entirelydoingaway with the double handles and pivotin means commonly employed intools of this character. The structural parts are very few, and easy andcheap to manufacture, it be ing practicaP to stamp out the bar 10 in theform shown in a unch press.

While I have herein illustrated and described one practical-andefli'cient embodiment' of the operative principle of the tool,-

it is manifest that changes in the details of structure and arrangementmay be resorted to without departing from the principle of the inventionor sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. Hence, I reserve all suchvariations and modifications as fall within the spirit and purview ofthe appended claims.

I claim 1. In a can opener of the type described, the combination of ahandle bar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, afixed cutter disc rotatably mounted on said bar laterally opposite oneend of said slot, a feed wheel spanning said slot and formed with a huboccupying said slot, an operating shaft connected to said hub, andgearing on said shaft and handle bar effecting bodily travel of saidfeed wheel toward and from said cutter disc through a turning movementof said shaft.

2. In a can opener of the type described, the combination of a handlebar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, a fixedcutter disc rotatably mounted on and beneath said bar laterally oppositeone end of said .slot, a feed wheel underl in and spanning said slot andforme with a hub occupying said slot, an

operating shaft connected to said hub and having an annular shoulderoverlying and spanning said slot, and co-operating gear elements onsaidshoulder and said bar operative to effect a travel of said feedwheel toward said cutter disc when said shaft is turned in onedirection, and a reverse travel of said feed wheel when said shaft isturned in the opposite direction.

3, In a can opener of the type described, the combination of a lnndlebar formed with a transverse slot in one end portion thereof, anabutment wheel and a cutter disc fast therewith rotatably mounted on andbeneath said bar laterally opposite one end of said slot, a feed Wheelunderlying and spanning said slot and formed with a hub occupying saidslot, an operating shaft for said feed wheel at its lower end threadedinto said hub and having an annular shoulder overlying and spanning saidslot, and interfitting gear elements on said shoulder and said baroperative to effect a travel of said feed wheel toward said outter discwhen said shaft is turned in one direction and automatically disengagingwhen said feed and abutment wheels and cutter disc have been broughtinto working engagement with the rim of a can to be opened.

4. A specific embodiment of claim 3 wherein the interfitting gearelements consist of a tooth on said handle, and a notch in said annularshoulder, the walls of which notch are in thrust engagement with theopposite sides of said tooth as said shaft is turned to advance saidfeed wheel toward and retract it from said abutment wheel 05 and cutterdisc.

WILLIAM H. NORDHAUS.

